Sad to Go...

Evenin'!

Hope everyone had a wonderful first day of 2010 :) I know I certainly did!

Today I had a great workout: first I ran 2 miles, then did an impromptu leg workout in the backyard:

• walking lunges (30 on each leg, 60 total)
• body-weight squats (3 sets of 12)
• calf raises (3 sets of 20)
• wall sits (3 at 45 seconds each)
• stability ball hamstring curls (3 sets of 15)

My parents and Nate were hanging some pictures, and the dogs were freaking out, so I took them in the backyard and worked out while they played. Ended with some stretching and I was good to go!

After a nice shower, I had some leftover bruschetta spaghetti (recipe coming soon):


And the rest of my Greek yogurt (about 1/3 cup total) with 1/2 a cup of blackberries that I mashed up with 1/2 a packet of Truvia. Yummmmmm!

After lunch my mom and I were baking up a storm, and I made two batches of granola:

Here's the recipe:

• 3 cups uncooked oats
  
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1 cup coarsely chopped nuts (we used pecans because they pick up so many in the area!)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4-5 Tbsp milled flax seed
• 1 Tbsp vanilla
  

Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Combine all of the wet ingredients and then poor over the dry ones. Pour into a 9x13 pan coated with non-stick cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, stirring 2-3 times. Let cool completely before storing in a container with a tightly fitting lid.

It's great on top of yogurt, and likely to be great over smoothies as well. I'll let you know soon ;)

Starting off dinner, we had black eyed peas and ham:

And continued with leftovers from last night (which were still perfecto): turkey, dressing, cranberry-orange relish (1 bag of fresh cranberries, 1 whole naval orange, 1 cup of sugar...blend it all up in a food processor and let it sit over night), and steamed veggies:


We'll be finishing it off shortly with a slice of heaven...err, pecan pie...made by my mom!

I mean, this sucker has a real, homemade crust! Look at that:


I have been so blessed to be able to come and visit my family here in Lubbock, and you can bet there will be tears tomorrow morning when we have to leave :( I love them so much, and it's so hard to leave! I'm so thankful to have had this time with them though, and hopefully we'll all be able to meet up again in the next couple of months. I'd love for them to see me about 20 lbs lighter the next time I see them!

I'll leave y'all with a little picture of me and my parents:


Question: What do you miss the most about your family when you're away from one another?